Shards
by CupCakeyyy
Summary: A family dinner with one Petunia Evans Dursley was doomed to end horribly.


This round was about using songs as inspiration. Puddlemee had 'How deep is your love' by The BeeGees and the sentence that inspired me was 'Breaking us down'.

 _Prompts:_

 _5\. (picture)_

 _9\. (word) announcement_

 _13\. (opening sentence) "Everything was going wrong."_

Enjoy reading :)

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 **Shards**

Everything was going wrong. I don't know how it happened. It seemed that one minute, Lily's family stepped over the threshold and the next everything went down the drain. I guess it started with Petunia throwing insults left and right... No, to be completely honest, I think this all started the second we opened our eyes this morning. This whole day should never have existed.

We had decided a few weeks ago that we would invite our parents to dinner tonight, because we had an announcement to make. Being engaged was something big and I had never even dared to hope that I would actually be lucky enough to not only end up with a beautiful fiancée beaming at me and sneaking glances at the sparkling new ring on her finger, but for that woman to be Lily Evans... I start grinning every time my thoughts wander that way, so it's only logical that we wanted to share that information with the people we love. Our friends had not believed us at first and after being able to breathe again after Lily had dragged a yelling and cackling Sirius off of me, we had a lovely and relatively normal evening. So it was the parents' turn now, starting with family Evans.

I had a feeling that this day would end horribly when I opened my eyes that morning and found my lovely dishevelled wife-to-be rushing through our little house we had bought right after graduation and trying to sort everything out before her family arrived about eleven hours later. When I pointed that little fact out, she started hissing and I hurriedly agreed with her that the books did not look good in their current order because the spines' colours did not fit. Who knew that leather bound books looked different? I certainly didn't!

The second the doorbell rang, Lily dropped the oven gloves and stared at me with wide eyes. I sent her a reassuring smile which only succeeded in making her pale drastically. I winced slightly and hurried to get the door. There they were. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who was holding Lily's sister's arm in a vice-like grip to keep her from running away.

"James, darling!" Meredith exclaimed and gave me an awkward one armed hug and a kiss on the cheek - her other arm was struggling to keep its grip on Petunia who had started fussing as soon as I got closer.

"Hello, Meredith. Robert, Petunia." I smiled and nodded to Robert Evans who took my hand and shook it vigorously, the ever lovely Petunia Dursley - I still felt the vomit coming up my digestive system when I thought about that oaf of a man she actually married - glared at me. "Please, come on in. Lily is in the kitchen. She should be here soon," I said, desperately trying to stay calm as I stepped out of the way to let them in.

Maybe I should have just let Lily's parents in and refused to do the same with her sister, because after I shot a glance towards Lily, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, happily hugging her parents, I knew it would have been the right thing to do. _Too slow, Potter_.

*~*Shards*~*

" _You want to do what?"_ My smile slowly dripped off my face as I sat at our dining table, Lily's hand held tightly in mine, but my back rigid and my eyes staring straight forward into the dull eyes of Petunia Evans Dursley. I blinked.

"It is my decision who to marry, Petunia," says Lily, her voice so cold that I felt an unpleasant shiver run down my spine. "I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with-"

" _A freak?!"_

" _Petunia!"_

" _What?_ It's true, isn't it? He's a freak! _She_ is a freak! And now she wants to ruin our family's honour further by marrying one of _them_?!" _th_ _them_?!" She hissed the last word with so much vengeance, that my grip on Lily's hand tightened.

I had met her before. I had met Lily's parents, but not her sister, although I had heard quite a lot horror stories about the oldest Evans daughter. For her to be so vile… I sighed and looked towards Lily. I wanted that woman out of our house. Now. But Lily wouldn't have it. The hand that wasn't holding mine clutched the fine wine glass my parents had gifted us when we had moved in. I remembered them, because as I child I had often been found in front of a certain glass cabinet, which had held said wine glasses made out of the best crystal found on planet earth. They cost a fortune.

I was ripped out of my thoughts by the sound of glass shattering on the floor, directly followed by a high-pitched screech and a slap. I blinked and saw my lone hand lying on the table's surface. Lily stood next to the table, her lovely hand still raised. I stood up and looked at the shocked faces of Mr. and Mrs. Evans.

"We are so sorry, James!" Meredith exclaimed and her hands shot up to cover her mouth. She was trembling.

I followed her gaze and gulped. Between Petunia and Lily on the floor lay crystal shards in a small pool of red liquid. The breath I didn't know I'd been holding in my lungs escaped in a rush and my hand zoomed up to my messy hair. I didn't know whether to rip them out or pull at them with less strength as I stared at one part of my family heirloom on the floor. This glass had survived one thousand years filled with war and now one Petunia Dursley… I gulped as the air that tried to force its way back into my respiratory system burned its way down.

"We better go," Robert said as he sniffed awkwardly. No-one answered. "Petunia, come."

"Wait!" My head shot up as my eyes found my beet red fiancée, who was quivering with fury. The last time I had seen her like that was in our fifth year at Hogwarts, on the grounds by the lake. I bit my lip and tried not to look at the shards still lying on the tiles. "I have something to say." Her voice trembled as she took a step forward, coming to a halt directly in front of her sister, their noses nearly touching. Petunia flinched and that was what made Lily explode. Her hand shot out and with so much force that could have knocked Sirius unconscious it zapped back again, hitting the pale cheek of the shocked Petunia Dursley. "Get out of my life. You are no sister of mine."

*~*Shards*~*

Later that evening, I gathered up the shards of broken history and put them in a tea towel. Lily had left the room as soon as her family had left the house and probably our lives. I hissed as a sharp piece of glass dug its way into my thumb. A small drop of blood oozed out of the skin and stayed there, taunting me with what had happened mere hours ago. I cursed as I feel my throat burn with tears. Why did this have to happen? Why weren't they allowed at least one simple and happy moment with Lily's family? She blamed herself for what had happened, I knew her good enough to know that. But I couldn't do anything to make her believe any different.

Forget the glass, forget its meaning and its value… What Petunia had said was what botheresd me more than anything. I knew she didn't like me. I knew she didn't like magic. But I hadn't known how she treated her own little sister.

I felt a tear run down my cheek, but I didn't care. There was nobody here to see me like this, nursing a bloody thumb whilst sitting in a puddle of red wine and crying like a little boy. All I wanted was for Lily to be part of her own family again – to be loved and valued like she should be. Ever since the moment she had gotten her letter, her life had spiralled downwards, sometimes faster, other times slower. It seemed like this dinner had been the peek so far and I did not like its outcome. What it had done to the woman I loved… And I couldn't do anything to change it! Hell, I couldn't even go up to her and tell her it's alright, that everything would turn out to be okay, because I knew it wouldn't. I couldn't lie to her.

The noise of bare feet moving over tiled floor made me sniff and hurriedly dry my face. Delicate arms snaked their way around my shoulders, one hand resting on my chest directly above my heart, the other reaching out for my bleeding thumb and pulling it upward to meet soft lips that kissed the drops of blood away.

I sighed softly as yet another hiccup wrecked through my body. "I'm sorry," I whispered as her perfume enveloped me. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, love," she said and pressed her lips to my neck, layering it with soft and loving kisses. "She has chosen her life and I've chosen mine. And no-one will take that away from me. Will take _you_ away from me. Not even my so called sister."

*~*Shards*~*

I can't remember how the night ended, even though I am trying to, sitting on one of the couches in front of the fireplace, one arm over my wife's shoulder, the over one wrapped around her slowly but steadily growing tummy.

We have not seen Petunia Dursley since that fateful night. Meredith and Robert have come over a couple of times, telling us that Petunia was pregnant with a boy. I still shudder every time I try to imagine _how_ exactly she became pregnant.

As I look down to the protruding stomach of my wife, in which my baby son was growing healthily, I can't stop myself from thinking that he will never meet his aunt, uncle and cousin. And that was the best thing that would ever happen to him!

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I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment. I love reading and answering them!

Until then... See ya!

 **Word count:** 1705


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